Editorial

It?s not possible for ?conservatism? to decline. That?s because there is no such thing as ?conservatism.?

Conservatives don?t comprise a monolithic movement. At the most, we can be roughly categorized into three groupings: social conservatives, defense hawks and fiscal/business conservatives. These are rough categories because they don?t have distinct edg It’s not possible for “conservatism” to decline. That’s because there is no such thing as “conservatism.”

The Montvale Rescue Squad would like to send out a HUGE Thank You to these businesses and residents for their efforts in providing food and supplies to the firefighters and EMS staff during the Black Horse/Camp Jaycee fire that took place starting on Feb. 9. The businesses include: Roadside Market-Montvale, Hardees-Troutville, McDonalds-Troutville, Food Lion-Troutville, Wal-Mart-Botetourt, Sams Wholesale-Roanoke.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon quickly reshaped the priorities of Congress, the President, and the Department of Justice. We immediately began working on securing our own country by coordinating our national anti-terrorism efforts, increasing information-sharing among our intelligence agencies, and strengthening our defense. We took all the necessary steps to ensure we dealt with our enemies on the foreign battlefield rather than here at home.

On Tuesday, Feb. 12 I intended to avail myself of my right to vote in the Presidential Primary.

Not being a registered member of any political party I was pleased to learn that any registered voter could participate. I showed up at my assigned polling place and was greeted courteously and asked for some identification. I presented my identification, which was passed along to the inspectors.

Few people would argue that Democrats hold most of the trump cards for this fall’s presidential and Congressional elections. The sustained and intense unpopularity of George W. Bush and his war in Iraq are the main, but not the only, reasons.

But might there be something else happening, too? Something even more profound than the electoral fortunes of either party?

With oil now topping $100 a barrel, it becomes even more imperative for American research to lead the way to freeing us from our addiction to foreign oil and petroleum-based products. For several years, I have been supportive of such research in our area, and now a new company is joining in our work.

When election time rolls around there's always plenty of talk of change. The problem, however, is regardless of who is elected, the eventual outcome almost always brings us more of the same.

Take the recent action in the Virginia House of Delegates, for example.

After more than 150 years of Democrat-controlled redistricting, the Republicans finally had their shot in 2001 to change the way the process was handled. Instead, it simply meant a new party was in charge.